Off Work, New Decisions
by MamaWaffles
Summary: Lin has finally decided to retire and has to make a future decision. One-shot.


The day had finally arrived for the infamous Chief Lin Beifong. After 35 years of being Chief of Police, making it a total of 43 years in service to the Republic City Police, she had finally decided to retire. The station had urged her to retire earlier, but she always argued that she was in excellent shape and reclaimed, "Who is going to keep these ruffians in line? You all have the spine of a worm-jellyfish and the bite of a toothless badgermole." Lin always said this in front of Mako, daring him to disagree with her in front of the whole office. She knew he was capable, having experience on the field, being a former captain in probending, assisting the Avatar, and being her hardest working detective; she just wanted to make use of all the years ahead of her.

During her last assignment as Chief is when she decided to call it quits. Some of the officers, including her, got caught in an unexpected explosion in one of their sweep outs of an old Triple Threat Triad hideout. The gangs in Republic City weren't as prominent as they use to be, but whatever members remained created equal amount of trouble. As Lin and the other officers were being healed on the side, Mako picked up the pace. He had very efficient ideas, ones that she lacked to think of, swift orders, and continued to work fluidly. They finished blocking off and sweeping the area in a short amount of time with half the man power. Realization hit her, Mako had developed this potential years ago. It pained Lin that she had been holding him to a stall for so long. After the mission was completed she announced her resignation and Mako was voted to be the new Chief.

After resigning, Lin felt underwhelmed. Su had invited Lin to join their family in Zaofu, which Lin felt tempted to agree, yet she declined. Her sister was offering her plenty of opportunities, but Lin needed to figure some things out for herself. She never thought that she would have a life outside being a chief. Thinking she would pass away in the line of duty or never retire from her job until she passed away peacefully. Were the days always this long before?

Roaming the streets of Republic City was an old habit she couldn't quite break. It was one of the few activities that help time tick by. Looking for any signs of trouble, this habit wasn't going to vanish any time soon. Lin stumbled upon a spirit vine where some of the homeless resided. Protecting them was something she knew she didn't accomplish well in her chief days; she knew Mako was going to fix that knowing where him and Bolin came from. Smiles didn't falter from their faces. In fact they shined brighter than the rest of the town, feeling blessed to be in touch with the spirits and being grateful for their few possessions. Everyone but a tiny girl that caught her eye.

Coughs were being emitted from the petite child. Lin lacked experience to deal with children, but the need to help was what made her act. She gave the girl her jacket and offered to get her a warm meal. Upon further inspection the amber eyes of the small girl were clouded, cold. She couldn't be older than five and by the fact that she didn't attempt to find her family and traces of tear stains on her cheeks, she came to the conclusion that her family must have recently left her. Hesitatingly, she went and picked the girl in her arms locating the nearest restaurant. The girl didn't fight back or acknowledge Lin's arms in anyway. Her body almost felt like dead weight, giving very little effort to stay up in Lin's grip.

The door rang upon their entrance and Lin located a small empty table in the corner. Pushing the chairs out, placing the girl in one of them with a delicateness that wasn't common for Lin to express. She asked the girl if she liked seaweed noodles, which she received a small nod, yes. When the waitress came up she placed their order and the waitress went on her way. Silence surrounded the table besides the occasional cough from the girls lips. This situation was foreign to Lin.

Thoughts were flying through Lins head of scenarios and possibilities on what to do with the little girl. None of them felt right to her. Finding additional family or placing her to an adoption center were the practical choice, the girl was young, cute, she would find a home in no time. However, she didn't want to drop her off when she already seemed so dishearten.

Age must have soften her up, since she was considering to take her in herself. Having children was something she never wanted. That being one of the major reasons Tenzin and her broke up so many years ago. When the couple started to get more serious, Tenzin always shared his enthusiasm of fathering children that would help nurture airbenders of a new era. Having a small platoon of children in her future was less than ideal to Lin. Knowing that meant limiting her career as a cop just to please and potentially accomplish Tenzins dream. Never once did she feel compelled to have kids. Having the fear of not being a good enough mother and struggling to give attention to her kids like her mother did to her and Su. That fear held her back with Tenzin. The fact that she worked out these issues with Su and years later with her mother may have opened up her mindset on this new revelation. This kid needed a chance and parents who could invest time to help her recover. It just so happened that Lin had an overbearing amount of time to spare.

The waitress showed up with their order and soon left. Making sure that the girl had begun eating, Lin joined afterwards. A few minutes passed by from them slurping on their meals when Lin disrupted the silence. "Hey kid, are you liking the meal?" The girl nodded. "Its okay if you talk kid. Unless you can't." The girl looked down and thought to herself for a second. "I have to be honest with you. I really don't deal with kids, but you seem like a good kid. So can I ask you a few questions?"

"Okay." It came out raspy and quiet. Her voice was gentle resembling a breeze, it suited her.

"Do you have any relatives that you can stay with?" All of a sudden the girl's eyes begun to develop tears. Threatening to fall. She shook her head no, not able to raise her voice to answer. "I'm sorry kid. So... Do you want to stay with me?"

"Me?" She was finally able to regain her voice expressing her tender confusion.

"Well there's no other kid around here besides you." She meant it jokingly, but as she revised her words they probably weren't the best at the moment. "I mean yes. You need a place and someone to take care of you. Though before you answer can I know your name? Calling you kid all the time doesn't sound very good."

"Naja."

"Hmmm I like it. Naja. If you do want to come with me, we can move to Zaofu. I have family there. Who knows maybe you'll like that crazy bunch. It took me years before I did." Naja let out a small chuckle and a subtle smile. Lin was amazed how relieved she was when she saw this new expression on Naja's face. She may not have known what she had gotten herself into, but knew that she didn't regret it either. "Come on than. Lets finish our noodles, than we will make this official." Eagerly Naja ate with more gusto than she did previously. Lin couldn't help, but follow suit. As they made their way to the station for paperwork, she realized the commotion her past officers and friends were going to make. That wasn't something she wanted to deal with, but if that was the price to help the future of this young gal, she didn't mind. Lin was still ruthless, headstrong, unyielding, yet she wanted to embrace this new soft side that had been exposed. Maybe she wouldn't be an ideal mother, but Naja was sincere, she needed this chance. For once she felt that this decision was her own. Lin wouldn't know the outcome, but she was willing to work for it till the very end.

AN: My second writing in a while. It still feels forced and synthetic, but I like the idea enough to give it a shot. I feel like half the content I wrote here does not match together, so let me know your opinions! Maybe for my next fic I should try not to write it in past tense. And I'm severely lacking in word choice/transitions. And goodness how do people even write endings? I wanna improve! Anyways thanks for taking your time in reading my fic and I hope there was some enjoyment from it!


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